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Fire lookout · Douglas County, Oregon

Devils Knob Lookout Site

Umpqua NF lookout in Douglas County, OR: cabin 1912, L-4 cab 1936 on concrete pillars, removed by burning in 1962. No source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. L-4 cab removed by burning on site in 1962

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cab14x14 foot L-4 cab on six-foot concrete pillars (1936), after a 1912 log houseThe designs: L-4, Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1912
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,820 ft (1,469 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Douglas County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.86233, −122.78710
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-devils-knob

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.8 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1912 BuiltFirst lookout house, built of hewn logs and native shakesSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1914 EventForest planned to use Devil's Knob as one of three principal lookout stations (Roseburg Review, via Weebly)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1919 First staffedF.A. McMillan employed as the forestry lookout; first named lookout in these sourcesSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1920 StaffedHis wife served at the stationSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1922 AlteredRegister says a cupola cabin replaced the 1912 cabin in 1922Source: firetower.org
  6. 1927 AlteredHistory page says a cupola was added to the lookout house in 1927Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1929 StaffedJake Smith was the lookout in the South Umpqua DistrictSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1933 StaffedCCC camp letter describes the man in charge locating fires by bearings from a second lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1936 Replaced by a new structureOld 1912 house razed in September; new 14x14 L-4 cab on six-foot concrete pillarsSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1936 and 1962
  11. 1962 RemovedLookout structure removed by burning on site; FireLookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  12. No record between 1962 and 2010
  13. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 10, 2010; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  14. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Devils Knob, a former lookout site in the Umpqua National Forest, lies about 24 miles east-southeast of Canyonville, in Douglas County, Oregon.1,2 A lookout house went up there in 1912, and the Oregon Lookouts history page calls it the first lookout building on the Umpqua National Forest.3

The sources agree on 1912 but not on the next change. The register says a cupola cabin replaced the first house in 1922. The history page says a cupola was added to the house in 1927.1,3

In 1914 a newspaper reported that the forest planned to use Devils Knob as one of three principal lookout stations.3 By 1919 F.A. McMillan was working there as the forestry lookout, and in 1920 his wife also served at the station.3 In 1929 Jake Smith was the lookout.3

A 1933 letter from a CCC camp in Douglas County describes the man in charge, who located fires by calling a second lookout for his bearing and marking where the two lines crossed.3

In 1936 the old house was torn down to make way for a new 14-by-14-foot L-4 cab, set on six-foot concrete pillars.1,3 The first house had been built of hewn logs.3

The register says the L-4 cab was removed in 1962, and the history page says the lookout structure was removed that year by burning it on site.1,3 FireLookout.com says it was destroyed that year.2

No source we read describes the site today or says whether it is open to visitors, so ask the Umpqua National Forest before going.

  1. Devils Knob Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/devils-knob-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Devils Knob Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/devilsknob.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Devil's Knob - Forest Lookouts, Oregon Lookouts (Weebly), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/devils-knob.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Devils Knob Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
First cabin in 1920
First cabin in 1920 (1920)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: what it is built of, design, links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

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